


Of Tainted Memories in Nevada

by Crazy_Pairing_Person



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Gen, Hanahaki Disease, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 06:04:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17503025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_Pairing_Person/pseuds/Crazy_Pairing_Person
Summary: Wherein Akane has died from hanahaki, and makes a request of her brother (via letter) to finish her work.Aoi is never one to deny his sister a request.He just hopes he can keep the reason she died a secret from Junpei.





	1. Chapter 1

Aoi looked down at the letter he'd received... Well, could it be called a letter, if it had more than one page? Well, it was jarring, no matter what one decided to call it, letter or otherwise.

He had to read it a total of three times for the words to really process in his mind.

_'Dear Aoi,_

_I'm so sorry. You told me to get the operation the last time I saw you. But you reading this letter means that I didn't. I didn't want to lose how I felt. And that was selfish of me. I knew this, but I still didn't get the operation._

_So I have to ask a request of you. A selfish request._

_Please continue my work. The first step is going to the Mars mission test site in Nevada. You must infiltrate it and stop the Radical-6 outbreak. Please follow the steps on pages two and three to do this. If you happen to fail, for whatever reason, and Radical-6 is released, follow the other three pages' steps._

_I cannot begin to say how sorry I am that I'm forcing you to do this, as I did with the Nonary Game... But please, continue my work. The world depends on this._

_Sincerely, Akane'_

Aoi felt tears stinging at his eyes as they flowed down his cheeks. A torrential waterfall, an endless rainfall.

He'd told her to get the operation and she obviously didn't listen. Damn it. And it wasn't selfish - despite what she'd obviously been thinking when she wrote the letter, it wasn't selfish. He didn't think so, anyway. Yes, the world 'depended' on stopping this Radical-6 outbreak, but... She'd thought ahead. She always did. She contacted someone she knew she could trust - aka, him - and got them to handle it.

His sister may have been scared, but she was far from selfish.

He sighed, running his eyes over the letter once more when his eyes had let out all of the tears they could. Mars mission test site in Nevada...

Well, he'd better get going, then. He folded the letter up, tucked it into his pocket, and went to pack his bag. He'd have to drive all night to make it to Nevada if he wanted to secure a place in the program - maybe they'd let him in late, but he wanted to take no chances. He didn't know when this Radical-6 would get released.

One thing in the letter was wrong, he thought, as he began packing his bag. Akane hadn't 'forced' him into doing the Nonary Game, nor was she forcing him this time to infiltrate the test site. With the Nonary Game, he had done it to save her life. And with this, with the test site, he was doing it because it was obviously her last wish, the final request she had ever made.

And he certainly was not the type of man who would deny someone their last wish. Especially not when that someone was his sister.

With his bag packed, he rushed out of his house and got into his old, beat-up car. He tossed his bag into the passenger side seat, and then started up the engine.

"Nevada, here I come."


	2. Chapter 2

Aoi almost wanted to laugh.

Zero? Bracelets? Junpei? Wow. If not for the fact that his sister would have told him if she'd planned another Nonary Game, the fact that this game was the Decision Game, AND the fact that she was actually dead, he might have thought that Akane herself had planned this.

Not that Junpei appeared to believe him, what with how aloof he was being. Jackass.

Oh well. Aoi was here on a mission. The 'steps' he'd been given only went up to infiltrating Dcom, so he had no idea what to do at this point. Much less now that he'd been forced into a Decision Game - genuinely against his will, at that.

Carlos sat down next to Aoi while he was on the couch, considering what to do. Not about this 'vote' situation - he didn't care. He just cared about doing what Akane had asked...

Which, huh, meant he had to stay alive. So there was something he wanted to do - vote. He just didn't care who for.

"Junpei and I searched all the rooms," he said. "We were talking, too. About the vote thing. And-"

"I hope you plan on voting," Aoi said dryly, staring off into the distance. "I get that it's your choice and all, but I'd rather not die. I've got something I need to take care of here, whether or not I'm in this damn Decision Game."

Carlos blinked. "Uh, yeah, I plan to," he said. "Just, we thought of the idea to, you know, spread out the votes."

Carlos explained the idea, but Aoi only paid half attention. "Sounds good," he mumbled at the end. Junpei walked over, then, sitting on the table in front of them.

"Yeah, he doesn't care," Junpei said. "His sister's probably behind this. Her name's Akane. She's probably Zero. So Aoi here wants to be as complacant as-"

Aoi blurted it without thinking.

"Akane's dead, asshole."

Junpei immediately shut up. His eyes went wide with horror. "I... Oh." He couldn't seem to find the words to say, but at least he appeared to believe that Aoi wasn't lying.

Aoi didn't want to expand on how she'd died - it wouldn't end well. It would... It would taint Junpei's memory of Akane. He didn't want that. So he stayed quiet. If Junpei asked, he'd have to lie.

Luckily, Junpei didn't ask.

Carlos gave an awkward cough. "So, then... Who is Zero? If it's not, um... His sister? And, uh, why'd you think it was her to begin with?"

Junpei cleared his throat, looking to Aoi. Aoi gave a small nod in agreement. Carlos had no prior connection to Akane - he could think bad of her all he wanted.

"Well," Junpei said carefully, "Akane was the first Zero. So, I thought, you know... I mean, maybe, maybe Aoi is the second Zero? You know, if Akane's death is something he wants to avenge, but... I doubt he'd tell us about that if that were the case."

Carlos nodded slowly. "The first Zero... How do you know about that?"

"I was one of the people the first Zero kidnapped. Though in that scenario, I was kidnapped to play a Nonary Game, not a Decision Game. Less deadly. The bombs were fake for almost everyone."

"...'Almost' everyone?" Carlos repeated.

Aoi snorted. "Trust me, the guys who died deserved it."

Carlos looked between Aoi and Junpei, then sighed and spoke again. "Why do you guys think Zero's doing this, then?"

"He said, didn't he?" Aoi mumbled. "To make us play this Decision Game, right?"

"There has to be more of a reason than that to try and kill people," Carlos said. "There was something about the fate of mankind being on the line..."

Aoi thought to the letter Akane had sent him. "Radical-6..." he whispered, sitting up slightly.

"You know something, Aoi?" Carlos asked in a slightly accusing tone.

Aoi hesitated, then shook his head. "No. Nothing useful, anyway. Sorry."

Carlos frowned. When Aoi didn't elaborate, he changed the subject, "So, you two... You clearly know each other."

"You could say that. We only first met a year ago, though, and not exactly in the best circumstances," Aoi said.

"During the Nonary Game," Junpei clarified. "And he was helping Akane, so... Yeah, I didn't have a good impression of him after that." After a moment, he looked at Aoi with a frown. "Still don't, really."

"And yet you believe me when I say Akane is dead."

"Call me crazy, but I don't think you're the type of guy to lie when his sister is dead."

"Wait," Carlos said, "so you two haven't had any contact for the past year?"

"Nope," Aoi replied.

"None," Junpei confirmed.

"Then... How come two people who obviously know each other ended up in the same area? That had to be planned."

"Sorry, but it wasn't," Aoi said with a shrug.

"Why'd you join?" Junpei asked. "I mean, it doesn't really seem like your thing."

Aoi frowned. "I... I got a letter from Akane," he mumbled. "She wrote it before she died, asking me to join."

That was all he said. This was his mission, and his alone.

When it was clear that Aoi wouldn't say anything more, the conversation shifted to the matter of voting...


End file.
